


Science Bro Code

by BarbaraKaterina



Series: At The Rope's End [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Post-Iron Man 3, Science Bros, because i hate it, five years late, fix it for the after credits scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 09:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14422251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbaraKaterina/pseuds/BarbaraKaterina
Summary: Bruce messed up. He knows he messed up. He doesn't know if he can fix it.(This story is part of the End Of A Rope verse, but otherwise is absolutely unrelated to the main story there and can be read perfectly well as a standalone.)





	Science Bro Code

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this written for a while, but only now got the impetus to post it. It's effectively my headcanon for what the hell happened in the IM3 after credits scene, because that is not how Bruce would behave. Just no.

It took Bruce a day to gather the courage to go see Tony.

He entered the workshop uncertainly, shuffling his feet. 

“Hey, buddy,” Tony greeted him, not really raising his eyes from whatever he was working on.

Bruce slowly shuffled closer, twisting his hands.

Tony still didn’t look up at him.

“Look, I...I’m sorry,” Bruce said at length.

Now Tony did look up, just a quick look before he returned his eyes to his project. “Oh?” He asked.

“About yesterday, I mean,” Bruce elaborated.

“Oh, right. Don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal.”

“No, it’s...I was...being really ungrateful yesterday and...”

Tony shrugged after a moment. “Well, you said it yourself, you’re not that kind of doctor. It’s not like this was an exchange of payment and services.”

“No, no, that’s not...” Bruce groaned and ran his hands over his face. “That came out wrong. I just...I was not...I shouldn’t have said that, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

Tony shrugged again, still focusing on his work. “Hey, you fell asleep. It’s not like it was a conscious decision on your part.”

Bruce took a deep breath and steeled himself. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said.

That caught Tony’s attention. “What?”

“Yeah, it’s...a technique I developed, to distance myself from a situation. I don’t always fall asleep doing it, obviously, that only happened because I was tired yesterday, but...I made the decision to disengage, Tony.”

Stark was clearly at a loss as to what to say.

“So, um, I’m sorry,” Bruce repeated, lamely.

“You could have just told me you didn’t want to listen to it,” Tony said at length, in an easy voice Bruce would have probably believed if he wasn’t looking for signs of underlying tension.

“Yes. I...well, I was being a coward, really.”

Tony frowned. “Coward?”

“Yes. Or maybe just...I’d have had to explain why, and I didn’t want to do that, so...”

“You wouldn’t have to explain why,” Tony argued, still in that falsely light tone. “It doesn't need an explanation. You can tell me to just shove my stories or save it for my therapist. I get not everyone is interested.”

Bruce exhaled sharply. “No, that’s not...look, I don’t want to make excuses, just...I didn’t want to just say no without an explanation because I knew you’d take it the wrong way, and I didn’t want to offer an explanation, so...”

“The wrong way?” Tony asked archly.

Bruce groaned. “That came out wrong too. I just...I had a reason why I didn’t feel up to listening to your story, and the reason was not that I couldn’t care less what you had to say. Just...can we please leave it at that?”

“Okay,” Tony said, and returned to his work.

-

It took Bruce about a week to realize this wouldn’t be enough.

He was not the most socially apt person, but in time even he noticed a strain between him and Tony that hadn’t been there before.

He briefly considered writing an email, than cursed himself for a coward for the umpteenth time that week. No. As much as he hated it, this should be dealt with in person.

He waited and caught Tony when he was relaxing with a coffee in his lab before he approached.

“May I?” He asked, sitting down next to him on the workbench.

“Sure, sure.”

Bruce took a deep breath. “I...really don’t want to make this about me, but I think I should probably tell you why I didn’t want to listen to your story.”

Tony shook his head. “I told you you don’t owe me an explanation.”

Bruce sighed. “Maybe that would have been true if I had the guts to say it outright at the start, but I messed up, and I do owe you an explanation for that.”

“All right,” Tony said after a moment. “I’m listening.”

“I just...I’m afraid,” Bruce began. “I’ve been here for over half a year now. I live in your house, we talk every day. I see Steve regularly, too, and sometimes Clint and Natasha as well. You introduced me to Pepper and Rhodey.” He paused. “I haven’t had something like this since I created the other guy...and there’s a reason for it. I remember what happened to Betty.”

Tony opened his mouth, but Bruce put up his hand to forestall him. “Yes, I have better control now, but not perfect. Accidents happen. You were persuasive enough – convinced me to stay, to have ties – but don’t believe for a moment that I don’t think about having to leave every day. I’m always waiting for the moment when my control will snap and I’ll have to run again. And that means no ties, not real ones, because I remember how...bad it was leaving Betty behind. So when you asked me here, I made a deal with myself: we can be friendly, we can spend time together, but no...well, no connection. I couldn’t afford it. But when you started talking about what happened to you...I realized I’ve been lying to myself for months, telling myself I could leave any time without being too torn over it, but it’s a dirty lie and when you showed you were willing to tell me something like this, I just...I felt that it was too much, that I couldn’t allow that. The moment I left you there, I went to my room to pack.”

Tony was silent for a very long while. “What stopped you?” He asked at length. 

“The realization that I was being a coward,” Bruce replied. “That it was going to hurt almost as much as leaving Betty behind, but this time it was me doing it to myself, not out of real necessity but out of fear. So I bullied myself into staying instead. And I’m sorry you had to deal with my issues.”

Tony laughed, and it was a bitter laugh but at the same time it was the first genuine one in a week. “Didn’t this whole thing started because I asked you to deal with mine?”

Bruce shook his head vehemently. “No. You just asked me to listen, that’s different. Though...if there was any way I could help, I would, I just...it’s not about temperament, but I’m not in a good enough place myself to be able to help someone else.”

Tony shrugged. “No, it’s cool. You were right – I should get a trained therapist, though with the amount of classified info I have it’s pretty complicated.”

Bruce nodded. “Until you find one – if you...I know you probably don’t feel like telling me again, but on the off chance you did...I promise to actually listen this time.”

Tony looked at him for a moment. “I might take you up on that,” he said then.

And Bruce believed him.

It was a relief.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm seeing Infinity War tomorrow. I don¨'t know if I am more excited or terrified...don't hurt my bby Tony!


End file.
